Go on, admit it - you've always wanted to haven't you? Perhaps not, but what if I told you that it's not just apes but those perennial favourites of enlightened humanity, monkeys, who have developed this enlightened way of devouring the humble banana? Yes, it's time we humans took that final step in our evolution - ironically by imitating our simian siblings! So, you ask, how exactly do I eat a banana like a chimp?

Chances are, if you pick up a banana with intent to eat it, you'll peel it by grabbing the stalk and ripping it downwards, then peeling down the other flappy bits. If that is your intention, stop now! Take a leaf (no pun intended) from the chimp's book. Basically, chimps eat bananas sideways, by bending the banana slightly (usually in the direction of its natural bend) until the skin splits, revealing the precious yellow inner. The fruit is then easily retrievable from its case, thus facilitating its transfer into one's mouth.

Why? WHY??

This is all well and good, but why bother? Well, let me ask you, why do you bother peeling bananas the way you do? As usual, it is all pure social conditioning! The way you peel bananas now is more work than the beautifully simple chimp method. Face it - chimps spend their lives surrounded by bananas, swinging joyously from banana tree to banana tree and eating bananas. They are banana experts! They know how bananas tick. Splitting the banana sideways in one swift action is not only much easier than peeling all the flaps from the top, but is also scientifically proven to greatly reduce the number of stringy bits you have to get off afterwards. Rigorous scientific testing has also proven this method to make the banana actually taste better!

As well as saving you precious life energy and producing a more pleasant eating experience, eating a banana like a chimp is less embarrassing than the usual, slightly phallic method. Plus, if you practise regularly, you get to eat loads of bananas! Bananas are good for you. by kobold

In early 2001, New Mexico's law making cohabitation illegal was repealed. The bill passed the Senate by a 26-5 vote, went through the House, and was finally signed by Governor Gary Johnson. The action followed charges against a couple living together in Los Lunas by the ex-wife of the man. The case drew national attention and was eventually dismissed in April 2000.

The law, enacted in 1963, made it theoretically illegal for couples to live together if they were not married. It had not been used for decades, however. The issue was last raised in 1987 and 1988 when a sheriff of Catron County and subesequently a reverend of Rio Rancho asked for it to be enforced. Their suggestions faded as they were told this was impossible.

The five senators who voted against the bill said they were doing so to strenghten families and marriage. They wanted the cohabitation law to be stricter, if anything.

Other states with such laws are Arizona, Idaho, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia. by agazade

The only way I eat bananas is sliced, on cornflakes or rice crispies. For the potassium. And never more than 1/2 of the banana. Being a generous soul who values all sentient beings, I leave the rest for the fruitflies.

But then, I am not a monkey or a chimp. I am a child of MOAB.

Ed T. What hope you give for MOAB kind. We all thought MOM was past her childbearing years.

Hoover Dam (original name was Boulder Dam) took 5 years to build. It is one of the largest dams in the world at 726 ft. (221 m) high and 1,244 ft. (379 m) long. There are 4,360,000 cubic yards of concrete in the dam, powerplant, and appurtenant works, about 5 million barrels of cement. The hydroelectric capacity of Hoover Dam is 1,345 Mw.

When the dam was built, there were theories that the enormous concentration of concrete in one spot would throw the earth off its axis. If this happened, some of the smaller countries were planning to sue for reparations in the World Court. About 20 years ago, the administrator of the dam decided he didn't like the bats that lived there, so he had them exterminated. Needless to say, it is now plagued by insects. Attempts are being made to bring the bats back. Although Las Vegas is only a 45 minute drive away from the dam (and half the time is spent on slow roads), it only gets about 2% of the dam's power output. This is because, when the dam was built and power was being assigned, the city only had a population of 6,000, and the mayor saw no reason for the population to increase by any significant amount. The dam was originally expected to have a service life of 1,500 years. Now that other dams upstream of the Hoover Dam keep silt from accumulating under the dam, the expected lifetime has doubled to 3,000 years. Watching specials on The History Channel, you will hear that about 100 people died during work on the dam. The number is actually over 400, but because the government listed Carbon Monoxide poisoning and Black Lung as unrelated diseases, most of these deaths were not listed as occupation-related. At the top of the Dam, there is a star map that gives the appearance of the sky at the time that the dam was completed, as well as a description of the earth's axial wobble, so that archaeologists of the distant future might be able to fix the time that the dam was built. The Hoover Dam is the only US Federal Public Works project of its size that has (directly) paid for itself.

Chimpanzees are one of the six remaining ape species. There are two sub-species, the Common chimpanzee and the Pygmy chimpanzee.There are only 200,000 left in the wild today. Compared with millions that used to roam Africa 50 years ago.

I worked at Hoover Dam for a brief time. Really strange job. Why they would hire a highly trained interpretive naturalist, someone who is expert in extemporaneous speaking about the natural or historic place at hand, and insist that she memorize a script and tell her not to worry about it when she asks for information about how the guts of the hydro plant actually works so she'll know what she's talking about, well, the time I spent there was shorter than this sentence.

The ratio of, or difference between, your arm-span and your height is your Ape index. If you have an arm span less than your height, you have a negative ape index. If they are similar, you are normal. If you have a wider arm span than you are tall, you have a positive ape index.

My conjectureis that considering at and taking the 32 aggregate, is kinda like taking the last role (or, is it a bun) at Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone wants it, but many (including meself) are too shy to grab for it...maybe a temporary show-stopper. I will leave it for the people that contributed more to the cause than I. If I took it I would feel like a numbat.

Lovely day MOM! And FINALLY a source of cash found my new bank account (though the child support check is still bouncing around the state somewhere). MOM never had to worry about this, she always kept her cash in the mattress. Maybe she has something there.

Count thirteen!! The cry rang out, Up and down that hard-steel line! We're coming through! Look out below! We're making up our time! Tap her and leaver her! cried the boss, Bring down another dray!! We're slapping steel at a terrible rate Toward the Thirty-two of K.

Then the sun came up on Saturday And the crowd began to forming It was strange to see them out of bed So early in the morning. The gang that made the steel rails fly They didn't much note, or care They were calling out for rail and spikes Through the Saturday morning air.

His sister stood beside him in her apron To tell them "Supper." At the word, the saw, As if it meant to prove saws know what supper meant, Leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap - He must have given the hand. However it was, Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!

Half in appeal, but half as if to keep The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all - Since he was old enough to know, big boy Doing a man's work, though a child at heart - He saw all was spoiled. "Don't let him cut my hand off - The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!"

The rails were counting down to home THey knew they'd see that line! You could hear it in their steely ring ANd see it in their shine. Why they almost laid themselves out straight One old hand was heard to say. As if they knew they were getting close To the THirty Two of Kay.

Another tie! Another spike!! Come and bring that hammer down! And another steel nail found its home In the cold and wintery ground. Press on! Press on!! It's coming soon! The village wives did pray. As the gang worked down the final slope To the thirty-two of Kay.

Then from over the mountains, back in the hills There floated a strange new sound. A lonesome drifting kind of song, Like a timberwolf's sad moan. It floated down from those distant hills Where we'd spent those sweat-stained days, And it cried as a ghost might moan, "Make haste!" "Make the thirty-two of Kay!"\

The citizens watching down below All froze with a look of fear. They wondered at that weird cry, And the children cried in fear. And the men and women at the rail Just doubled their speed once more. For they knew the sound of the MOAB Train Crossing thirty one five oh four.

They knew the hour was drawing near When their work would win, or die And they knew they had to finish that line Where that mighty train would fly. For she would not stop, she could not stop Once she started the long, long grade That led down from those towering mountain heights To the Thirty Two of Kay.

Then the last rail settled into its bed. The bumpers stood like soldiers. The last sharp spike was hammered in, ANd the crew boss yelled, "Now, hold her!" Then out of the mist and down the grade Came a blur like the break of day As the MOAB engine and ninety cars Rattled home to 32 Kay.